


Back to haunt you

by HecticHelios



Series: The White Rooms [3]
Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Low key dyle, M/M, WWCOMMS never dies, but it’s there - Freeform, i guess, like it’s not the main shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-04-14 22:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 11,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14145609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HecticHelios/pseuds/HecticHelios
Summary: ‘If the rebels asked you to go back to WWCOMMS, would you do it?’‘Hell no. What kind of question is that?’‘... Would you go back for me?’





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Aka I finally realise posting shorter chapters is probably better

Riots and protests forced WWCOMMS back. Their power shrunk, the rebels relaxed.

The fact remained that they still existed. A fact that haunted both Dan and Kyle, even a year on from their ordeal.

One sleepy night, the pair laid tangled in one another’s arms, Kyle carding Dan’s hair.

The long silence was broken by Dan’s deep voice. ‘If they asked you, would you go back?’

‘Hmm, what?’ came Kyle’s half asleep reply.

‘If the rebels asked you to go back to WWCOMMS, would you do it?’

‘Hell no. What kind of question is that?’

‘... Would you go back for me?’


	2. Chapter 2

Dan’s question stuck in Kyle’s mind the next morning. Although Dan was acting like he’d said nothing, Kyle had to confront his partner.

Kyle sat at the table across from Dan, milk from his cereal bowl splashing out as he set it down.

‘What did you mean last night, Dan?’

Dan looked up from his bowl and pushed his glasses up his nose. ‘Hmm?’

‘About going back for you. Again, I might add.’

Dan sighed, placing his spoon on the table. ‘They- the rebels want me to go back into one of the main buildings after their big operation. They want me to take them around, to identify agents and plans and stuff.’

Kyle choked on his cereal. ‘What the fuck!? Am I supposed to just sit back and let you do this?’

‘I’m the one with the most knowledge here.’

‘I’m not letting you go without me.’

Dan stared at his half-empty bowl, thinking in silence for a moment. ‘They don’t want you coming as well. They said they didn’t want to put two people with inside knowledge at risk. I’ll be fine. Will’s part of my guard. They won’t let me go in until it’s safe for me.’

Kyle’s anger flared up inside him. He wished he could be away from all of this. He’d often daydream about taking Dan and running off to run a farm together, not needing anything but each other.

‘You... you better keep me in the loop, Dan.’

— — — — —

The day of the operation came. While the first group of rebels went into the building to clear it out, Dan, Kyle, Will and a few others were holed up in the living room of a friendly civilian.

An hour into the operation, they got the call over the walkie talkies that Dan should go in.

‘Be careful,’ Kyle said to Dan. Dan nodded and the pair hugged tightly before Dan made his way out with his entourage. Kyle remained on his own, wishing to remain near in case anything happened.

Some time passed and Kyle sat on the sofa, playing games on his phone, walkie talkie by his side. He’d had one message from Dan saying that he was about to enter the building, but nothing since.

A knock at the door surprised Kyle. He locked his phone and made his way to the door. He assumed it was one of the rebels coming to check on him.

Kyle unlocked the door and swung it open gently. ‘What’s u-‘

There in front of him stood the very displeased CEO of WWCOMMS himself.

Laslo Panoflex scowled. ‘Long time... no see...’

Before Kyle could react, Laslo’s fist shot out and towards Kyle’s face, knocking him out cold.


	3. Chapter 3

The operation with Dan went smoothly. He pointed out everything he knew, and the rebels acquired some new intel.

Dan was exhausted. He couldn’t wait to go home to be with Kyle, but he was forced to debrief with the higher-ups. He barely paid any attention, just answering enough to give them the hint that he was tired until they let him go.

Will caught up with Dan as Dan pulled his hoodie over his head to avoid any further interaction with people. ‘Good job man.’

‘Mmm. Thanks. It wasn’t fun.’

‘I can imagine. You going back to the operation house?’ Dan nodded in reply. ‘Cool, me too. I left something there.’

‘So did I. My boyfriend.’

The pair arrived back at the temporary mini-base. Dan became concerned when the door was slightly ajar.

‘He- nobody apart from us knew we were here, right?’ Dan asked Will as he pushed the door open gently.

Will scratched his head. ‘Nah... just us... and a couple of the seniors.’

Dan looked around and called for Kyle while Will grabbed his bag.

‘Maybe he’s gone back to your place already,’ Will shrugged.

‘... Maybe,’ sighed Dan. He looked at his feet then something caught his attention.

Kyle’s phone was placed upon the shoe cabinet beside the front door. Dan walked over to pick it up, concerned since Kyle never left his phone if he left the house.

Beneath his phone lay a sheet of paper. Upon the paper was scrawled a note. Dan assumed it was Kyle at first, until he lifted the phone away and read it properly.

Dan stumbled backward, nearly crashing into Will.

Will caught his friend, preventing them both from falling to the floor. ‘Easy, easy, what’s up?’

‘The- Kyle- the note- he-‘ stammered Dan. Will guided Dan to the sofa, whereupon Dan collapsed.

Will picked up the note and read it over several times, not quite taking in what it read. ‘Ahh... shit.’

On the paper was a single line.

Come find him, Agent Smith.

The paper slipped from Will’s hands and fluttered to the floor. It landed, note side down, with the WWCOMMS logo printed on the other side, declaring the presence of the company within rebel territory.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Laslo Panoflex (Cori) is a nasty man

Kyle’s first instinct upon being splashed with cold water was to get up and shake himself off. Unfortunately, he found himself strapped in place to a chair, in a setting of white that was all too familiar. The only thing different was the fireplace in the far wall.

‘Ah. Fuck,’ Kyle cussed, tugging frantically at the straps over his wrists. The fact that he was stripped down to his boxers didn’t help matters and he blushed when he noticed.

A laugh came from somewhere behind Kyle and he twisted his head to see who. Laslo Panoflex strolled around Kyle, scruffing up his hair while he was helpless to resist.

‘Hello again, Simmons,’ said the WWCOMMS leader, smirking as he leant down to be at eye level with Kyle. ‘I believe we have unfinished business.’

‘Not really,’ Kyle replied, trying to hide his shivers (partly from the cold, partly from fear). ‘I was happy.’

‘Well, I am not.’ Panoflex took a few steps back from Kyle and turned his back. ‘My company is on the decline, thanks to your antics. Thankfully we have some contingency plans, which we can now start to put in motion with you here.’

‘... I don’t understand.’

‘I do believe Orwell had the idea of making the mind perfect before blowing it to pieces, no?’

Kyle clenched his jaw. ‘Hey now...’

‘You’re my new anchor, Simmons.’

‘I would rather die, you festering rat cock.’

Laslo tutted and shook his head. ‘We’ll train that mouth of yours yet, Simmons. You know, every agent has a unique ID number. Yours falls nicely on 4444. Ironic. Four carries bad luck in Chinese, since it sounds the same as their word for death. Four fours.’

‘Oh, shut up!’ Kyle groaned involuntarily. ‘You wanna kill me, I get it.’

Panoflex peered at Kyle over his shoulder. ‘Do you know how we make it known that Smith belongs to us, like all our agents?’

Kyle held his tongue, not trusting himself to speak.

‘The tattoo, Simmons. A declaration of our ownership of him.’

‘Dan is not an object or animal to be owned, you dickbag,’ Kyle spat in disgust.

Panoflex continued, disregarding Kyle’s insults. ‘The thing is... tattoos can be removed... covered up. I’m sure you’ve already done something to Smith’s...’ he paced over to the fireplace and stared into the flames.

Kyle remained silent and Panoflex walled back towards him.

‘Smith really is a soft spot, isn’t he?’ teased Panoflex. ‘Anyway, you might want this...’ He pulled a strip of leather, folded over, from his trouser pocket and firmly placed it between Kyle’s teeth. Kyle was confused but he didn’t protest; he saw no harm in it since he could spit it out, and feared repercussions if he resisted.

The older man walked away from Kyle again, back towards the fireplace. ‘What was a talking about? Ah yes. The tattoos. Too easily removed. I want everyone to know you’re mine, Simmons. Good luck removing this.’

Laslo Panoflex pulled a rod out of the fire and Kyle’s eyes widened. The end of the metal rod had the WWCOMMS logo, white hot and steaming. Kyle panicked and tried to pull himself free of his restraints, more desperate than he’d ever felt.

Kyle sat there, struggling, feeling more vulnerable than he’d ever felt in his life, as Panoflex descended like a hawk.

‘Welcome to WWCOMMS, Agent Simmons,’ smiled Panoflex before he pressed the iron against Kyle’s chest. Kyle bit into the leather strip and screamed, tears flowing freely. He thought of Dan as he passed out from pain.


	5. Chapter 5

On one screen, Laslo Panoflex watched the camera feed of Kyle. On the other, a video call from one of his agents.

‘Is the expansion going as planned?’ Panoflex asked, twirling his pen absentmindedly.

‘We’ve bought out 80% of the major companies in London,’ came the reply from the screen. The voice was distorted and barely recognisable, but it didn’t matter to either party.

Panoflex nodded. ‘Good. Try for 100%, naturally, but 80% is good enough. You know what you’re doing, 3609, yes?’

‘Of course.’

‘Then carry on.’


	6. Chapter 6

Suspicion immediately fell on Dan first, but the way he sobbed and shook and yelled about loving Kyle made everyone sure that it most certainly was not him.

Will was the next person to fall under suspicion. ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ was his reply every time someone accuses him. They let up eventually after Will complained about how he wouldn’t even be a part of the rebels if it wasn’t for Kyle’s initial disappearance.

They were all at a loss as to who would betray them like this. The rebels all agreed that Kyle was important to their cause.

Dan sat with Will at the rebels’ main base of operations. Most of the others ignored them since they were cleared of suspicion and Dan was clearly in no state to talk about losing Kyle.

‘The rebels talk about him like WWCOMMS.’ Dan mumbled to Will.

Will looked at his friend. ‘What d’ya mean?’

‘They keep calling him “an important asset to our cause”, the same way that Panoflex would me his number one asset, the same way that agents dying was just losing assets.’ Dan felt the back of his neck. Laser removal of the WWCOMMS logo tattoo’d on his neck wasn’t 100% efficient, so it still remained like a ghost. Dan’s fingers ran over the scars from where he tried to cut the flesh with the tattoo off and he shuddered. ‘Missing people aren’t missing assets.’

Will remained silent but nodded in agreement.

A few moments passed before Will spoke again. ‘Speaking of missing people... do you remember Woody?’

‘Yeah. I remember him saying that getting a job at WWCOMMS was a great opportunity, before all of this happened.’

‘... Yeah. He felt bad about that fairly quickly. I haven’t seen him or heard from him in ages. Just before Kyle went missing the first time, he just disappeared. Last I heard was that he’d found a great job opening, and he was about to start working there.’ Will looked at Dan and met the raised eyebrow of the tired young man. ‘It wasn’t WWCOMMS, god no. One of their competitors, ironically. One of the few companies that never got swallowed up by WWCOMMS. It’s just weird that he’s... gone.’

‘A lot of people go missing because of WWCOMMS,’ Dan said bluntly. ‘I hope Woody’s ok.’

‘I mean, he hasn’t shown up dead, so that’s something. If WWCOMMS did get to him, hopefully we find him along the way.’

The pair sat in silence again, but they were comforted by each other’s presence in the chaos that was the rebel’s head base at that moment.

Dan spoke up again. ‘I figured it was meant to be me who’d get jumped by WWCOMMS.’ Will looked at Dan and let him continue. ‘I was the one going into their building. I figured he’d be safe.’

‘It’s not your fault, Dan. Someone betrayed us here.’

‘Are we the only two who’ve got out of there?’ Dan asked. ‘Was it really a choice between me and him on these missions?’

Will sighed and thought for a moment. ‘We’ve sent a couple in before. They’d come back out, slightly different, but not enough so to be a danger. There was one agent we captured who ended up joining us, but her mind seemed together.’

‘Maybe she betrayed us.’

‘She died.’

‘Oh.’

The pair discussed possibilities, although it was largely Will telling Dan about people and Dan accusing them, then Will giving reasons how it couldn’t be them.

‘It may just have been a civilian, y’know,’ Will shrugged. ‘In any case, I think they’re gonna increase your guard.’

‘... My guard consists of you in the day time and a pair of rebels outside my house at night. I think giving me a knife would increase my guard tenfold.’

Will laughed, then stopped when he saw the blank look on Dan’s face.

One of the rebels came up to the two men and told them that the seniors wanted to talk with them. Reluctantly, they made their way over to meet them.

They didn’t even get a chance to slip in a ‘hello’ before one of the seniors, a young man with red hair, pounced at Dan.

‘Is it a possibility that Kyle was with WWCOMMS all along and pretended not to be to get information from us?’

‘What. The fuck.’ Dan spat. ‘After all the shit he went through, you think he’d be one of them?’

‘That shit may have reprogrammed his brain, Dan.’

No more words were spoken as Dan kicked the red head in crotch, then swung his fist at the man’s head as he bent over in pain. Will dragged Dan away from the red head as the other seniors helped their colleague.

People were staring as Dan screamed. ‘Don’t you dare accuse my boyfriend of working with that good-for-nothing bull testicle again!’ Will had remained silent until that point, whereupon he snorted at the insult.

Will dragged Dan, kicking and screaming, outside the base. Dan punched a tree, then immediately regretted it.

As Dan tried to calm down, one of the seniors came out from inside the building.

‘Alright, Dick?’ Will nodded. Dan also nodded in acknowledgement. Dan liked Dick Meredith. He was sympathetic to him and Kyle, and never accused them of anything surrounding the current scenario.

‘You landed a good hit on him,’ Dick said as he approached the pair. ‘I’ll admit, I would have done the same.’

Dick was part of a rescue attempt carried out before Dan and Kyle joined. He’d seen the things that WWCOMMS put people through, even been through some when he was captured for a short while.

‘Thank you,’ Dan sighed. ‘I’d apologise to him but I don’t feel bad.’

‘If Kyle was with them, the intel he’d given us in the past would have been false. I trust him. We’ll find him. I promise.’


	7. Chapter 7

As much as Kyle tried to forget, he would sometimes remember the days he spent in a room in a WWCOMMS building, forced to watch news broadcasts. This, however, was much worse.

Dressed in WWCOMMS overalls and strapped down to a chair, the room was a dome around him, all covered in screens. News clips and training videos and propaganda blared out from all sides and Kyle squeezed his eyes tight in an attempt to block out at least some of the stimuli.

Kyle’s nails dug into the arms of the chair. He thought about Dan. He cried over Dan.

The noise around him was deafening. It wore at Kyle, and he didn’t know how long he would last. He would focus on the pain of his healing burn to distract him from the brainwashing program that surrounded him.

Kyle was an exhausted mess when the noise finally stopped. He was sobbing as WWCOMMS agents unstrapped him and escorted him to his own room. He curled on his bed, his only company the pain that radiated from his burn. Kyle didn’t know how long he’d been in that room. He didn’t know how long he’d been at WWCOMMS.

Laslo Panoflex paid a visit to Kyle. ‘Keep your eyes open next time, Simmons.’

Despite how weak he felt, Kyle still managed to spit out ‘Or what?’ in reply.

‘Ludovico, Simmons.’

Panoflex took Kyle’s silence as an answer.

‘You know, Dan was much better at the training than you are.’

Rage consumed Kyle as he once again thought about the torment Dan went through. New found strength caused Kyle to leap off the bed and throw himself at Laslo, hands around the CEO’s throat.

‘You. Hurt. Dan. You. Asshole.’

Before Kyle could do any lasting damage, one of the special black suited WWCOMMS agents ran into the room. Kyle felt a shock in his own neck and he released his grip, but the shock remained until he was forced to the floor.

Laslo Panoflex coughed and stood up straight. Kyle looked up from the floor to meet the older man’s gaze and the pair glared at one another wordlessly until Laslo was escorted from the room.

Kyle was quickly learning why the agents and anchors were so obedient. He thought once again of the pain Dan would have been forced to endure and punched at the floor, screaming in anger.


	8. Chapter 8

The rebels’ investigations got nowhere. They couldn’t find anyone to blame for leaking the stake out location.

Dan hadn’t left his house once in the three days since Kyle had gone missing. Will, Dick, and some other rebels would come and go, but nobody ever had good news for him.

In his solitude, Dan picked up violin again. It was an old thing he’d bought from a charity shop a few months prior, barely played by the previous owner or by him, but it took up the majority of Dan’s time as he waited for news in those days that felt like years.

He remembered the time when he and Kyle were younger. Dan was practising his violin when Kyle dropped by unexpectedly. Dan remembered being so shy about playing; he was afraid of falling more into that awkward nerdy boy stereotype, but Kyle didn’t care. Kyle sat and listened to Dan practise and never once said a bad word.

In the current time, however, Will made himself aware by asking Dan ‘Christ, how many more times are you gonna play Greensleeves?’

Without missing a beat, Dan turned to Will and asked ‘Would you prefer Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?’

Dan set his violin down and invited Will to sit on the sofa beside him.

‘No good news, I’m afraid.’ Will sighed as he sat beside Dan.

‘Figured.’

‘We had an operation to infiltrate the three remaining WWCOMMS buildings in the area. Nothing. No Kyle, no new intel about where he could be... No Panoflex.’

That final part surprised Dan. The CEO of WWCOMMS rarely went beyond the main central London buildings as they were the hub of the company.

With no more news, Dan and Will sat in silence for a short while until Will headed off to guard the outside of Dan’s house.

Alone once more, Dan picked up his violin again, this time keeping Will’s words about Greensleeves in his head and playing instead In The Hall Of The Mountain King.

— — — — —

When night fell, Dan awoke with an awful idea and a head full of misplaced bravado. He was drunk and it was 2am. He didn’t remember falling asleep but there he was, belly down on the sofa, empty bottle of wine on the floor beside him.

The rebels guarding Dan’s house guarded in two ways. Stop rebels getting in, sure, but they also had to know where Dan was at all times.

Dan tossed the empty wine bottle out his front window, towards the side of the house. As expected, the two at the front went to investigate, and Dan slid out of the house.

He made his way to the square where the main - now abandoned - WWCOMMS building stood. Despite the building being shut down, Dan suspected the cameras would still be in operation, if not in the building itself then in the buildings around it.

Dan stood out in the open and yelled.

‘Hey, Panofuck! I know you can hear me! You could have had me back so easily! Me! Your beloved anchor! You didn’t- you didn’t have- have to take my boyfriend...’ He broke down and collapsed to his knees sobbing. ‘It- it should have been me... It’s my fault we’re in this mess anyway... I should have listened to him all that time ago...’

Dan’s phone rang in his back pocket and he reluctantly answered it when he saw that the caller ID was Will.

‘Where the fuck are you, Dan? Your guards said your house was empty.’

‘Hmm. I’m at the square,’ sniffed Dan.

‘What the hell is wrong with you? I’ll be there in a few minutes.’

Somewhere, not too distant, several cameras feeds tracked Dan. A 360 degree view of the broken man, alone in the night.

The origin of each feed was labelled above the monitor. One from the Sony building. Another from the bank. Two from the tube station, one at each entrance. An almost bird’s eye view from the radio tower, Dan appearing so much smaller on that monitor. Many more still kept their mechanical eye on Dan and his surroundings as Will’s car pulled up.

On the desk sat a checklist. Names like Microsoft, Apple, Canon, media and technology companies written down in black ink then most of them crossed out in blue.

In front of the desk sat 3609, watching a drunk and crying Dan be rescued by his friend. By his fellow traitor.

3609 inhaled deeply then sighed. ‘Bargaining comes later, Smith.’


	9. Chapter 9

Kyle lost track of time. There was no windows in the building, just harsh, artificial light. No clocks, at least not where Kyle could see.

When the agents came to take him to “training”, Kyle knew it was pointless fighting back. He knew he’d just get hurt again.

So Kyle found himself in the same situation once more. He whispered a promise to Dan under his breath before his senses were assaulted, hoping that Dan would somehow just know that Kyle was ok at that moment, relatively speaking.

When the screens lit up and the speakers exploded with sound, Kyle flinched. He kept his eyes open under threat of worse from Panoflex; as much as he liked Clockwork Orange he wasn’t that curious about how filming of that scene went.

No two screens showed the same thing. Kyle tried to keep changing which he looked at, but some he couldn’t tear himself away from, be it from morbid curiosity or from being pulled in by it.

Sometimes Dan would appear. Not his Dan, the anchor Dan. The Dan who didn’t remember Kyle.

Kyle did his best to focus on things other than the things presented in front of him. It was difficult. The training tapes were refined, carefully made to keep attention on the content. Kyle was strong, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever keep from breaking.

At the end of it all this time, Kyle found his head numb and swirling with thoughts of WWCOMMS, and the rebels seeming just that small bit further away.

— — — — —

The rebels had disabled all the cameras in the WWCOMMS buildings that they had made obsolete. Sure, there was CCTV still, but none of those cameras were owned by the company but instead owned by their competitors.

So when Dick Meredith received an envelope containing CCTV photos of Dan walking to the square, breaking down within in, then of Will driving Dan home, he was immediately concerned.

The envelope was signed ‘Here for you, wherever you are’ on the back.


	10. Chapter 10

‘What the hell?’ Will asked as he looked over photos of Dan and him. ‘How could WWCOMMS have taken these? There’s no active cameras in their buildings.’

‘Other buildings have cameras,’ Dan mumbled, hungover and half asleep.

‘But none of those companies around that building were brought out by WWCOMMS,’ Dick added.

Will was hit with a sudden, awful realisation. ‘Not that we knew of.’ Dan and Dick looked at Will, their facial expressions inviting Will to continue. ‘Think about it. WWCOMMS found Kyle yet we couldn’t find anyone who would leak intel.’

‘Well shit,’ muttered Dan, resting his head on the desk. He was too hungover to be anything other than apathetic.

‘This changes things, doesn’t it?’ Dick said as he gathered the photos up. ‘Especially after Dan’s outbreak last night.’

‘Hmm. If WWCOMMS wanted me they would have got me by now.’

‘They haven’t got you, yet,’ said Will.

‘They can have me.’

‘Jesus, stop being so depressing, Dan.’

— — — — —

Kyle sat in Laslo Panoflex’s office, across from the CEO’s desk. Unusually, he found himself unbound, but the two agents either side of Kyle gave him the message to not try anything. Panoflex had given him a pair of sunglasses and instructed him to wear them, which Kyle did. Kyle realised as he sat there that he was more compliant than he typically would have been and cursed himself mentally.

‘I hope you’re ready to see some old friends, Kyle,’ Laslo said from behind his desk. The door behind Kyle opened and he turned on instinct.

An agent led in a small group of people, dressed like civilians. Kyle recognised the red haired man as one of the senior rebels and he stood up.

‘Wh- what happened?’ Kyle asked, stepping away from his chair and towards the group.

‘You... you fucking traitor!’ yelled the red head. No agents attempted to stop him as he lunged at Kyle.

The two fell to the floor, the red head’s hands around Kyle’s neck, the chain of his handcuffs digging into Kyle’s neck and making the choking worse.

‘Shit... c’mon... I’m not...’ Kyle managed to choke. He understood why Panoflex made him wear the sunglasses now, and he tried to pull them off while at the same time trying to prise the other man’s hands away from his throat.

‘I fucking knew it. Nobody stays here for that long and comes out alive. If I get out of here, I’ll kill that fucking boyfriend of yours too,’ hissed the red head.

The mention of Dan made Laslo instruct the agents to force the pair apart. Kyle propped himself up on his elbow, coughing, while the agents pulled the small group of rebels away and out of the room.

Panoflex smirked. ‘See, Kyle. You’re just... another agent.’

Kyle watched the closed door, and part of his brain wondered if he really was just another part of WWCOMMS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to torture them boys


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more until after ReOrchestrated sorry ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

It had been a week since Kyle was brought to the WWCOMMS building. Kyle could feel himself slipping into Laslo’s control, but his will to fight against it was weakening. Kyle no longer fought against the things that were done to him. He kept his mouth shut, he complied.

Laslo Panoflex came to visit Kyle. ‘Hello, Simmons.’

Kyle rolled over on his bed and faced Panoflex. ‘Hello.’

Panoflex went over to Kyle’s bed and knelt besides it, their eyes meeting. Kyle’s eyes were pale, a stark contrast to the deep brown that they were when he came in. Only a hint of the brown remained.

‘There’s someone I’d like you to meet,’ smiled Panoflex.

Kyle followed Panoflex obediently, his gaze towards the floor. Laslo stopped at a door at the end of a corridor and opened it.

‘I would like you to meet 3609...’ Panoflex smirked as he ushered Kyle in.

Kyle took a step through the doorway, looked up, then froze.

‘Wh-‘ Kyle felt the words stick in his throat as he looked at the agent dressed in the same white jumpsuit as him.

Panoflex entered after Kyle and shut the door. ‘Kyle, this is the head of acquisitions. In charge of buying out our competitors to ensure we can be everywhere. This is Agent 3609, but you might know him better as Woody, correct?’


	12. Chapter 12

Silence hung in the air as Kyle stared at Woody in disbelief.

Woody, his old friend. He hadn’t seen Woody in ages, but Kyle didn’t expect to see his friend again like this, in a WWCOMMS jumpsuit with creamy white irises and a blank facial expression.

‘Hello, Kyle.’ Woody greeted Kyle without a hint of emotion.

Panoflex stepped forward besides Kyle. ‘3609 is an excellent agent. Part of a side project I’ve had going for a little while. Buying other companies out, letting them continue to operate, but also operating our own work out of their buildings too. When Woody went to his new job he was willing to do anything to get promoted. Now here he is, a top agent.’

Kyle didn’t know how to react. He held his tongue, not trusting himself to speak.

‘No hello, Kyle?’ Woody asked.

‘I thought you were dead.’

The following silence was a signal to Panoflex that the reunion was over. ‘Simmons, go get yourself cleaned up. There’s something you need to do.’

Another agent escorted Kyle to the showers, handed him clean clothes and a towel, and left.

Kyle placed the towel and change of clothes on a shelf then stripped himself of what he was wearing. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and turned for a closer look. He was taken aback when he saw how pale his eyes were and felt a bit sick inside as he thought about Dan. His fingers instinctively traced over his brand. He flinched as he did so and quickly stopped, disliking the pain.

He stared at himself for a few moments longer, observing bruises and marks on his body that he’d acquired in the past week, before turning the shower on. He shuddered as he stepped beneath the cold water.


	13. Chapter 13

All the fight had left Kyle. In his mind, Dan was a colleague that the rebels had captured and pried away from the company, a fellow agent that he needed to get back. A fortnight at WWCOMMS was enough to break anyone, even Kyle.

Kyle stared at the blank ceiling. He was strapped down to a bed in a small room in one of the buildings that WWCOMMS had brought. A light flickered in his periphery. Once more, Kyle was restrained in only his boxers, but any feeling of embarrassment - or any feeling at all, for that matter - had disappeared from him.

Upon hearing footsteps, Kyle turned his head. He saw Laslo Panoflex accompanied by two agents in white, one pushing a trolley of equipment.

‘I trust you are comfortable, Simmons?’ Panoflex asked as he approached Kyle.

‘Yessir.’

‘Good. Apologies for the restraints. They’re... necessary for the plan.’

Kyle turned his head back to stare at the ceiling. He made no reply.

Panoflex signalled to the two agents and they approached Kyle’s bed. They stood by his head, one on either side of him.

They started with his eyes. Kyle’s eyes were no longer the brown that he came in with, so the agents gave Kyle brown contact lenses to hide the colour change.

The next thing was his ears. A small, hidden speaker was placed carefully in Kyle’s left ear. Panoflex held a small microphone and spoke into it. Kyle winced as the volume of the speaker was far louder than it needed to be. The agents methodically adjusted the volume until it was correct.

A small tracking chip was injected at the base of Kyle’s neck. He yelled as the thick needle pierced his flesh and shuddered when it slid back out. Instinctively, he tried to reach his hand back to feel it, but his restraints made that impossible.

One of Kyle’s bracelets was replaced with an exact replica, but one that had a listening device within it. The agents tested this also, boring Kyle as he lay there while they fiddled.

The final thing they did was to cover up his brand. It was still sore to the touch and Kyle bit his lip until it bled while it was covered with make-up.

Panoflex took a look at Kyle. ‘You’re almost perfect, Simmons, but you look too... clean.’

Kyle had bruises and marks around his neck and ribs from the red headed rebel and from the agents’ tasers, but Panoflex still didn’t feel like Kyle looked damaged enough for his plan.

Despite Kyle’s mental reprogramming, Panoflex still had a deep-set anger towards the younger man. He channeled this anger as he punched Kyle in the face and made his nose bleed.

‘There we go,’ smiled Panoflex. Kyle stifled a sob, not wanting to look weak in front of his boss. ‘Add the final touch and we’ll be done here,’ he instructed the agents, then turned on his heal and left. One of the agents took a long cloth from the trolley and gagged Kyle with it, Kyle too dazed from the punch to do anything about it. With Kyle all set up, the two agents also took their leave, once again leaving Kyle alone and in pain, only this time he felt no resentment towards Panoflex for it.

— — — — —

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the rebels that several of their operatives - including a senior member - had gone missing. Using the new theory that WWCOMMS were operating out of other companies’ buildings, Dick constructed a plan to raid several buildings in an effort to find their missing members.

Dan insisted on coming along. Will and Dick protested but Dan was stubborn. Dick gave Dan a small pen knife and Dan clipped it to the inside of his boxers, ‘just in case,’ he said. The other two men decided not to argue.

Dan and Will hung back while others broke into the building. They went in when it was clear and split off to look for Kyle.

Most rooms where empty, but every few rooms the rebels would find one of their own, although it was hit and miss whether they’d be alive or not.

Dan and Will climbed the stairs to the top, third floor. Dan was losing hope of finding Kyle, but he wouldn’t admit that to Will in a million years.

Will kicked a door in while Dan stuck his head in another room.

‘Awh, jeez, shit,’ Dan sighed as he saw the body of the red headed rebel he’d disagreed with the week before. He shut the door again and looked over to Will, who was staring into the room.

‘C’mere, Dan...’ Will ushered Dan over. ‘You’re gonna wanna be here.’

Dan jogged over and looked through the doorway.

Kyle.

‘Kyle!’ Dan ran towards the bed where Kyle lay. Dan fumbled, hands shaking, as he untied the gag in Kyle’s mouth. ‘Kyle? Jesus, Kyle, Kyle...’ Dan ran the fingers of one hand through Kyle’s hair and Kyle sighed, pressed his face against the palm of Dan’s other hand as Dan held Kyle’s face.

‘I’ve missed you, Dan,’ Kyle mumbled as Dan tried to free Kyle of the bed. Will ran over and assisted Dan. Kyle was free in a couple of minutes and he sat up and felt his bloody nose.

‘W-we’ll get you home and clean you up, a-and...’ Dan was biting back tears.

Kyle smiled at Dan, eyes squinting happily. Dan pulled Kyle into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. Kyle hugged Dan back as Dan cried into his shoulder.


	14. Chapter 14

The liberated rebels were taken back to their base, Kyle included. Those who were well enough were questioned about what happened.

When Dick questioned Kyle, Kyle was fed answers through his earpiece, which he recited word for word. The rebels would gain no useful new information from Kyle.

Dan took Kyle home, and Will followed on Dick’s instructions, and made sure he was cleaned up. Kyle made sure to avoid cleaning the make up away from his covered brand.

Night fell and the pair lay in bed together, limbs tangled with the other’s. Dan was dozing and Kyle was staring into the darkness when a small voice emitted from Kyle’s earpiece.

‘Go ahead now, Simmons.’

Kyle nodded, even though Panoflex couldn’t see him.

‘Dan...’ Kyle whispered. ‘Dan?’

‘Hmmm?’ Dan stirred. ‘What’s up?’

‘There’s something I just remembered that I need to show you.’

‘Can it wait until morning?’ yawned Dan.

‘It’s important, I’m sorry.’

Dan groaned but sat up. ‘Alright.’

The pair got dressed and headed out. Dan signalled to Will that they were leaving, and Will followed reluctantly, staying a few feet behind the two.

‘So whatcha showing me?’ Dan asked playfully.

‘It’s some WWCOMMS stuff I overhead agents talk about,’ bluffed Kyle. ‘I’m not sure if I want everyone to know about it yet but I trust you, obviously.’

Kyle smiled at Dan. It was a genuine, warm smile as Kyle felt like he was about to get his partner back to his rightful place beside him at WWCOMMS.

The building was small, abandoned-looking, but Dan didn’t question it. He knew what WWCOMMS was like.

Will went in first. He had a gun, after all. He called clear and the two partners went in after.

‘Is there really shit here?’ Will asked, holstering his pistol.

‘It’s upstairs,’ Kyle said, pointing to a staircase down a small corridor.

Will sighed. ‘Let me go check it out first.’ With that, he jogged up the stairs.

Dan walked a small distance away from Kyle, watching Will go. ‘Inconspicuous, so very WWCOMMS,’ laughed Dan.

Dan heard a scuffling upstairs and stood in the hallway, about to call out to Will. Before he could, Dan felt a sharp pain in his temple as his head smashed against the wall, then he felt nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy weed day


	15. Chapter 15

Dan woke up slowly. He had pins and needles in his arms. He tried to adjust his position but couldn’t. As he became more aware, Dan realised he was sat on the floor, arms handcuffed to a rail above his head, mouth gagged with a bandana. In front of him, he saw Will, bound to a chair with his hands behind his back, but ungagged. Two agents in red and black jumpsuits were situated behind Dan’s helpless friend.

Dan looked around. He saw Kyle, irises pale. He felt his heart drop. Next to Kyle stood Laslo Panoflex. Dan felt his heart drop more.

The third figure surprised Dan.

Woody stood in front of a fireplace. The backlighting from the flames made it hard to see, but his irises were the same pale, creamy colour as Kyle’s. Dan’s heart was now pounding.

‘Ah. Smith. Good morning,’ smiled Panoflex. The way he smiled made Dan feel sick.

Will looked over at Dan. ‘Y’alright?’ he asked, despite the situation they were in.

Dan raised an eyebrow at Will, giving him a what do you think, idiot look as he moved his hands slightly, making his cuffs rattle.

‘You know, Smith. I wanted to show you what we do to traitors. To those who commit treason against me and my company.’ Panoflex looked at Kyle. ‘We wanted to show you.’

Panoflex nodded his head slightly and Kyle approached Will, a large pair of scissors in his hand. Will protested as Kyle cut Will’s t-shirt off, then he stepped back besides Panoflex.

‘You rebels have destroyed my company. I don’t forgive sins like that easily.’

Panoflex now nodded at Woody. Woody pulled a rod from the fireplace and Dan had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

Dan watched in horror as Woody pressed a hot iron WWCOMMS symbol against Will’s chest. Will cried and protested, trying to get through to his old friend, to see if anything remained of Woody.

Woody finally backed away and replaced the brand in the fire. The smell of burning flesh and the sound of Will sobbing made Dan feel sick to his stomach.

While Dan couldn’t do anything about his sick feeling, his other half could do something about his. Something snapped in Kyle’s brain and he threw up after the branding finished. His breathing was ragged as he looked at Dan.

Kyle’s irises were a deep brown once again.

Panoflex swore. ‘Ah, fuck. 3609, finish this off.’

Woody pulled a camcorder from one pocket and a pistol from the other. Dan’s mind was racing but he was helpless as he watched Woody wordlessly film himself shoot Will at point blank.

Kyle was struggling as Panoflex attempted to restrain him. With his job finished, Woody pistol-whipped Kyle and knocked him out.

Panoflex let Woody handle Kyle’s limp body and he turned to Dan. ‘You and Simmons really are a stubborn pair, aren’t you?’

Dan looked between Panoflex, Will’s lifeless body, and Kyle being manhandled into cuffs by his old friend Woody. He didn’t know how to feel, how to react.

Panoflex kicked Dan in the stomach, winding him. ‘I will break you rebels one way or another, I promise you that much.’

Dan didn’t even attempt to resist as one of the agents detached him from the railings and dragged him off elsewhere, Woody and Kyle just ahead.

Dan looked back and watched the remaining agent drag his Will’s lifeless, bloody corpse in another direction, like his friend’s body was just another average bag of trash to to taken out.


	16. Chapter 16

The room was essentially a blank cube. Plain white walls, ceiling and floor. No furnishing.

Dan sat in a foetal position on the floor, hands still cuffed. Kyle was laying unconscious on the floor besides Dan, his own hands cuffed behind his back. Dan had removed the bandana that had gagged him and used it to stem Kyle’s bleeding nose.

Kyle stirred and Dan snapped out of his daydream. Kyle groaned in pain and tried to sit up.

‘Hey, Kyle, careful,’ Dan said, helping his partner sit up.

‘Fuck me,’ Kyle moaned. ‘Everything hurts. Where are we?’

‘Imagine the whitest cube ever.’

‘Thanks. I hate it,’ sighed Kyle.

The pair sat in silence for a few moments before Kyle looked over at Dan.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

‘Why?’ Dan asked, meeting Kyle’s gaze.

‘You know. All this shit. I tricked you. I got Will killed.’

Dan smiled softly. ‘It’s not your fault. I know how this all feels. WWCOMMS did this, Panoflex did this. Not you.’

Kyle’s eyes were brimming. ‘I tried, I tried to not let him get to me...’

‘Hey, I know.’ Dan ran him fingers through Kyle’s hair. ‘Don’t blame yourself.’ He lifted his arms over Kyle’s head and hugged him.

With the guilt he felt lifted from him, Kyle’s thoughts now turned to getting out of WWCOMMS again.

‘You got a gun?’ Kyle asked Dan.

Dan shook his head. ‘You know nobody trusts me with a gun. I do, however, have this.’

Dan reached his hands awkwardly down the waistband of his jeans and Kyle raised a rightfully concerned eyebrow.

Dan flourished a small pen knife and flipped it open.

‘Did you just pull a knife from out your ass, Daniel?’

‘Jesus- no! It was- I clipped it to my boxers.’

Kyle smiled playfully at Dan. ‘The knife still helps, but it depends how willing you are to get your hands dirty.’ Dan looked confused. ‘There’s a tracking chip in the back of my neck. We’re not gonna get far unless we get it out.’

‘Are you- ahh fuck.’ Kyle nodded grimly and Dan grimaced, looking at the knife in his hands. ‘Fine. Turn around,’ Dan sighed.

Kyle shuffled around and Dan felt around for the chip.

‘Let’s just get this over with,’ Kyle said through gritted teeth.

‘Here goes nothing.’ Dan pressed the knife against Kyle’s skin and Kyle stifled a yell.

Dan worked as quickly as possibly. He cut a line and could see the chip, then carefully pulled it out with his free hand.

Dan stared at the chip in his hand. He placed it on the floor and took the already bloody bandana to try to stem Kyle’s bleeding neck.

‘Can you hold this quickly?’ Dan asked absentmindedly as he looked at his shirt.

‘Daniel.’ Kyle hit Dan with his cuffed hands.

‘Oh, yeah.’ Dan carefully held the bandana in place with his foot while he tore a strip off of his t-shirt, folded it, and replaced the bandana with the new fabric. Dan refolded the bandana and used it to tie the makeshift bandage in place. ‘You good?’

‘I’ll live,’ Kyle said.

‘Cool.’ Dan then jammed the knife into the lock of Kyle’s cuffs.

It took some fiddling but they popped open and Kyle sighed a sigh of relief as he rubbed his wrists. He then turned and helped Dan to do the same to his cuffs. Only one popped open, but his hands were still essentially free.

‘Hey, cool bracelet,’ Kyle joked as he watched Dan look at the handcuffs swinging from one wrist.

— — — — —

It was a long time before anything happened. Both Dan and Kyle had fallen asleep, leaning on one another, when the door slammed open, frightening them both awake.

Panoflex walked in, fire in his eyes, followed by a rather bored looking Woody.

‘Hello, gentlemen,’ Panoflex said as he eyed the pair up, then looked at the blood stains on Dan’s clothes and on the floor of the room. ‘Trouble as always.’

Dan held his knife in his fist. It wasn’t a lot but it was at least some protection.

‘What happened to you, Woody?’ Dan asked, voice shaking.

Woody shrugged. ‘Same thing as you, except less fame... and no treasonous thought.’

‘Oh... shut the fuck up,’ Kyle interjected. ‘You hated this place after what happened to Dan.’

‘Not anymore, okay?’ snapped Woody. Dan visibly recoiled.

‘You killed our friend,’ mumbled Dan, his fingers fidgeting with the knife as he stood.

‘Yeah, there’s a first time for everything,’ Woody replied calmly. ‘I’m not normally in the killing department.’

Dan was filled with rage. This wasn’t Woody, not anymore. He was too far gone.

Kyle could sense what Dan was feeling. ‘Dan, don’t-!‘

Dan lunged at Panoflex and tried to plunge the small knife into the older man’s chest. Woody tackled Dan and they both went crashing down, Dan dropping the knife.

When he tried to grab it, Panoflex stood on his fingers. ‘Now, now, Smith. Behave.’ Panoflex grabbed Dan by the collar and held him up against the wall. Dan’s hands flailed and grabbed at various places on Panoflex’s suit jacket. ‘I think someone needs a little bit of refresher training, hmm?’

Panoflex re-cuffed Dan’s wrists, making an effort to have that just slightly too tight.

Woody left the room first, Panoflex following and pulling Dan by his shirt collar.

Kyle was frozen in place with fear as this all unfolded. When he was left alone once more, he glanced around the room.

On the floor where Panoflex stood moments prior laid a single keycard. Kyle smiled, realising that Dan’s seemingly useless flailing had in fact been a cover to pull the card away from Panoflex.

He grabbed the keycard, then swiped the knife off the floor also. It was bent from being stood on, but Kyle thought it was better than nothing.

Slightly armed and mildly dangerous, Kyle unlocked the door of his cell and crept out to find his boyfriend again.


	17. Chapter 17

Dan wasn’t much of a fighter, but he did his best. He kicked and dug his heels in as Panoflex led him away, even biting the older man’s hand at one point, making him release his grip. Dan didn’t really get far in his escape attempt before he was shot in the calf.

‘Ah, ahhh, fuck. Fuck this. Fuuuuck,’ he swore as he stumbled to his feet, only to collapse again when he put weight on his injured leg. ‘Fuck this, fuck me, fuck my life, fuck WWCOMMS, fuck Panofuck, fuckity fucking fuck it. If I get out of this alive I am never wearing white again.’

Woody ended up dragged Dan across the floor for the rest of the way, Dan watching his blood streak across the white floor as they went.

Pulled into a small room with a single TV, Dan didn’t even bother trying to fight against Woody as he forced Dan into a kneeling position in the middle of the room.

‘Has your budget run too low that you can’t afford a chair?’ joked Dan. He was waiting for an opportunity, any opening, to grab Woody’s pistol.

Panoflex made no reply to Dan’s quip. ‘You know what happens now, Smith.’

‘Yeah. I watch something then you may or may not kill me.’

‘As much as it may seem the contrary, I don’t want to shoot you, Smith.’

Dan shrugged. ‘I would prefer being shot.’

Panoflex nodded at Woody and Woody readied his pistol as Panoflex turned the TV on.

Dan sighed deeply. He remembered watching this same process happen to other people. The ‘malfunctioning’ agents, as Panoflex called them. They either came away a better agent, or in a body bag.

The TV flickered into life when an alarm went off. Both men of WWCOMMS became distracted by it and slyly smiled, knowing that the alarm would have been due to Kyle.

Alarm blaring, Dan took the chance and grabbed the pistol from Woody. Distracted, Woody didn’t resist as the gun was pried from his hands.

Dan got up and shot the door locking mechanism and ran out the door. He heard Panoflex yell behind him as he sprinted with a limp to escape the building.

Someone collided with Dan after he descended a flight of stairs. Reflexively, Dan turned and aimed the pistol at the other person.

‘Whoa! Easy!’ Kyle yelled, hands hovering in front of him.

‘Shit, sorry,’ apologised Dan, lowering the pistol.

The pair heard shouts from behind Kyle.

‘We need to go,’ Kyle said, grabbing Dan by the chain of his handcuffs and running.

Dan struggled to keep up, his leg hindering him. ‘Kyle, I cannot keep this up.’

Kyle stopped and Dan slid into him. The pair locked eyes. ‘Fine.’ Kyle took the pistol and put it in his pocket, then wrapped his arms around Dan’s waist.

‘What are you doin- hey, whoa!’ Dan yelped as Kyle fireman’s lifted him.

‘Here we fucking go then,’ Kyle said, one hand supporting Dan, the other wielding the pistol.

Kyle jogged towards the exit of the building, occasionally firing shots at agents that attempted to apprehend them. Dan would yelp occasionally from being jostled around, and at one point started quietly singing ‘I’m on the highway to hell... on the hiiiiighway to hell...’

It felt like a lifetime before Kyle found the exit. Panoflex stood in front of the door, agents either side of him.

‘Where do you two think you’re going?’ Panoflex asked.

‘Well, I was gonna take us home, have a shower, sleep, maybe try and buy a farm,’ stammered Kyle.

Panoflex sighed. ‘Grab ‘em.’

Several agents descended on the pair. Kyle fired a few shots while Dan shouted incomprehensibly.

In the chaos, Kyle and Dan somehow managed to slip out. Dan still over Kyle’s shoulder, the pair carefully made their way back to the rebel base to try to get some medical aid.


	18. Chapter 18

They found their way back.

The warehouse where the rebels met was up in flames. A few people hung around outside; some helped others with injuries, others tried in futile attempt to douse the flames, others just looked on in resignation.

‘Shit,’ Dan said. He shifted uncomfortably from foot-to-foot and fiddled with his still-cuffed hands.

Kyle was silent for a short while as they looked on from a short distance. ‘...This is my fault.’

Dan looked quizzically at Kyle.

‘I had the tracker and, and... Laslo, he-‘

‘You know you had nothing to do with this. It was WWCOMMS, using you when you had no choice in the matter.’

Kyle sighed.

‘C’mon, Kyle. Let’s go see if we can find anyone.’

— — — — —

The death count was higher than anyone wished to mention, but enough people made it out - or were away from the building - for the rebels to still have a reasonable gathering.

Dick was injured but alive. He stood near the small pile of intel that was rescued, much of it covered in ash.

‘Hey,’ Dan greeted Dick. ‘You got a lock pick?’

‘Christ, you’re alive,’ Dick smiled at the pair.

‘I came back with a friend,’ Dan joked, showing Dick his bullet wound, the bullet still embedded.

‘And Will?’

All three fell silent. Kyle looked at his feet as he spoke. ‘We need to talk about that.’

— — — — —

Away from other people, the three men sat on a grassy hill, overlooking the smouldering warehouse.

Dick sighed as Kyle and Dan finished recounting what happened. ‘If there’s one positive, it’s that we know for certain now that they’re buying out other companies.’ He hesitated. ‘Plans come later. We need to sort you two out first.’

Back outside the warehouse, Kyle and Dan had their injuries cleaned and dressed, and Dan was freed of his restraints with a few cuts from a bolt cutter.

Injuries seen to, Kyle made a retreat away from the warehouse. Dan caught up with him a few minutes later when he was also all sorted and the pair stood on the hill again.

‘The fucking burning smell is going to haunt me forever,’ Kyle said.

‘Because of what happened to Will?’ Dan asked.

‘... You haven’t seen it, have you?’

The confused look on Dan’s face told Kyle everything he needed to know. Kyle, still in the jumpsuit, unbuttoned enough buttons to allow him to pull the fabric aside and show Dan his brand, still healing.

‘Fucking hell,’ Dan said, not knowing how else to react.

‘At least we match,’ Kyle joked sarcastically. ‘I need to get out of this piece of shit jumpsuit.’

Kyle took Dan’s hand and they walked back to the place they called home, feeling somewhat more vulnerable without Will beside them.


	19. Chapter 19

The next few days were uneventful. Peaceful.

The rebels relocated. Dan and Kyle mostly stayed home. They helped as much as they could with new intel, but collecting intel wasn’t the first thing on their minds when they were last in WWCOMMS.

Dick proposed a plan.

‘We need Woody.’

‘Sorry, what?’ Kyle responded.

‘He would know what companies and buildings WWCOMMS have brought, right?’

‘Right.’

‘So...’

Dan threw his arms up. ‘I’m out. Nope. I know what you’re thinking.’

‘Same,’ echoed Kyle, folding his arms.

Dick sighed. ‘I hate to ask you but you two are the only ones who really know what he looks like, especially now.’

‘Fuck this,’ Dan spat. ‘Last time we went near WWCOMMS, Will died. The time before that, Kyle was kidnapped. It’s dangerous.’

‘Think it over boys. Please.’

— — — — —

Kyle couldn’t sleep. He sat alone in the living room, a single side light on.

He stared at the blank TV monitor. It wasn’t hooked up to anything - they only had it for DVDs and games - but Kyle still felt like Panoflex could be watching if he wanted.

Soft footfall approached the door. ‘Kyle...?’ called out a sleepy Dan.

‘Hi.’

‘You okay?’

‘Yeah.’

Dan flopped on the sofa next to Kyle. ‘You sure?’

‘Just thinking,’ Kyle replied.

‘About what?’

‘... About if we just left this all. Would it be so bad if WWCOMMS took over everything?’

Dan was now alert. ‘Kyle.’

‘D-don’t worry. I’m still me. I’m just tired of this fighting and the pain.’

‘People would have died for nothing if we let them win, Kyle.’

‘... Yeah. I know. I just wish we’d ducked out of all this shit earlier. Maybe Will wouldn’t have been killed.’ Kyle hesitated. ‘Dunno about you, but I want to go find Woody.’

‘What? Why?’ Dan asked.

Kyle shrugs. ‘It feels right. He killed Will, and if we find him, we could get info to stop others getting killed.’

Dan sighed. ‘Yeah. I’m not sure I want to do this but I can’t let you go alone. Not after last time.’

Kyle smiled, eyes tired. ‘You don’t have to.’

‘I’ll go, don’t worry.’


	20. Chapter 20

As Dan ran through the back streets, he felt regret.

‘Why did I agree to this...?’ he huffed under his breath as he paused to peek around a corner. He ducked quickly as a bullet flew toward him. ‘At least this answered a couple of questions...’

Kyle and Dan had been about to go into one of the buildings taken over by WWCOMMS when the agents came to them. Woody had fired at them from down one alleyway and they fled, only to run into Charlie, similarly armed, causing the pair to split.

Dan was now running from his old friend Charlie. Charlie had been an agent since before Dan was taken, but Dan hadn’t seen him much recently... until now.

Dan skidded to a halt as he found himself in a dead end, blocked by a chain fence. Charlie blocked his exit.

‘Heyy.... Charlie... ol’ Charlo Barlo...’ Dan grinned awkwardly as his former colleague.

‘1302.’

‘No, it’s Dan, but thank you...’

‘Return to HQ for training or be executed for treason.’

Dan stifled a laugh. ‘Treason?! Panoflex ain’t a king.’

Charlie fired a bullet and Dan yelped as he narrowly avoided it.

Panicking, Dan pushed a rubbish cart in Charlie’s direction. Charlie instinctively turned his attention to not getting run over by trash, and Dan took the chance to leg it past Charlie.

— — — — —

Kyle was ducked between two storage carts, hiding from Woody. A bullet had grazed his shoulder and Kyle was cursing his luck quietly under his breath.

He heard Woody’s footsteps nearby and Kyle held made his breathing as quiet as possible.

‘I know you’re around here, 4444!’ Woody called. Kyle resisted the urge to call back with a taunt.

Kyle knew the plan. He and Dan were meant to draw Woody out and lure him to where the rebels were. The sudden ambush from Woody and Charlie had surprised the rebel pair, but Kyle felt the plan remained mainly the same.

He took a couple of deep breaths and prepared himself. Kyle quickly mentally went over the route back to the rebels in his head then leapt out of his hiding place in a sprint, flipping the bird at Woody as he went.

As expected, Woody pursued, firing off a couple of rounds haphazardly at Kyle ahead.

Kyle was panting, lungs burning as he ran as fast as he could towards the rebels’ place of ambush. He dared not look back in case Woody was closer than desired.

‘Shit, shit, shit, shit,’ Kyle repeated as he ran down the alley to where the rebels were. He didn’t really know if he was meant to have a cue word so he just yelled as he ran.

Kyle skidded as he tried to stop and barrelled into Dick as rounds were exchanged behind them.

‘... Hi...’ gasped Kyle.

‘... Hi...?’ came Dick’s reply.

Kyle smiled and cautiously looked over behind him. Woody had been pacified and Kyle let out a sigh of relief.

‘... Where’s Dan?’ asked Dick.

Ah. Shit. Kyle thought. He had forgotten that Dan was, in fact, technically meant to be with him.

‘... Charlie.’

‘... Who?’

Kyle explained quickly what happened with Charlie and WWCOMMS then quickly moved on to saying that Dan was out there being chased by him.

‘Great. Well... we need to find him, don’t we?’ sighed Dick. He instructed some of the rebels to fan out while others returned to their initial positions.

Kyle grabbed a gun. ‘Dunno why you didn’t give us guns earlier. Anyway-‘

‘What are you doing?’

‘... Going to look for Dan?’

‘You need to rest.’

‘No,’ Kyle said bluntly then jogged off to find Dan before Dick could reply.

— — — — —

Elsewhere in the city, Dan sat alone in a dead-end alley, clutching a bleeding wound in his side.


	21. Chapter 21

It was a long time since Dan, Kyle, Will, Woody and Charlie were all together. As Dan sat on the cold ground, he remembered that time.

Kyle’s 21st. They went to the theme park, and Kyle threw up on the first ride. ‘Too many pre-drinks,’ he joked. Charlie got soaked on the log flume. Will refused to wait in line for half the rides.

‘Now Will’s dead...’ Dan mumbled to himself through gritted teeth. He looked at his wound. ‘... and I might be joining him.’ A few moments passed and Dan sat there with his eyes closed, breathing ragged. ‘Can’t just sit here and be useless when the time comes, though.’

Dan used his free hand to push himself to his feet. His side was burning. He didn’t see Charlie, nor did he hear any footfall.

He stumbled around the corner, trying to remember the route to help.

It was a few minutes before Dan heard anything aside from his own breath and footsteps. He froze as he heard footsteps.

‘Smith.’

‘Awh, fuck, it’s the Grim Reaper!’ joked Dan weakly as Laslo Panoflex rounded the corner, Charlie at his side. ‘Or I’m in hell and it’s the devil.’

‘I can still fix you, 1309.’

‘It’s Dan, and no thank you.’

Panoflex sighed. ‘A shame.’ He held his hand out to Charlie and Charlie gave Panoflex his pistol. ‘Once we’re done dealing with you, we’re going to see if Woody’s dealt with Kyle.’

Dan closed his eyes and waited for the bullet to come. He flinched when he heard the gun go off.

He didn’t feel anything. He carefully opened his eyes, expecting to see himself bleeding... but saw Panoflex drop the gun and collapse to the floor, bullet in his knee.

Kyle stood over the fallen Panoflex. Charlie made to grab the pistol from the floor and Kyle snapped ‘don’t.’ Charlie was visibly taken aback, the first hint of emotion Dan had seen in the younger man in quite some time.

Kyle kicked the gun away, towards Dan, and kept his pistol aimed at Panoflex. Dan shakily bent to pick it up and held it at Charlie uneasily.

Panoflex looked at Charlie. ‘Do something, idiot!’ Charlie looked between his boss and Dan.

‘Charlie...’ Dan said uneasily. ‘I still consider you a friend. I really don’t want to shoot you.’

Remaining silent, Charlie didn’t move.

Kyle took a few steps towards Panoflex, who was trying to get up. ‘Don’t bother.’

The pair locked eyes and Panoflex laughed. ‘WWCOMMS doesn’t need me to exist, 4444. It’s an idea. It’s-‘

Kyle pistol-whipped Panoflex and his head fell back to the ground. ‘A shit idea.’

Kyle fired once at Panoflex’s shoulder. ‘That’s for Dan...’

Twice, at his hip. ‘... that one’s mine...’

Thrice, at his thigh. ‘... for what you did to Charlie, and Woody...’

The fourth bullet found its way to Panoflex’s ribcage. ‘... that was for burning down the warehouse...’

Then Kyle knelt down, his pistol firmly against Panoflex’s forehead. The pair locked eyes once more. Panoflex was in pain, but no words for mercy came out.

Kyle’s face was devoid of emotion. ‘... this one’s for Will.’ He pulled the trigger.

Dan threw up. He’d never seen Kyle this way, never expected Kyle to act like this, never seen this much blood, or someone be shot so many times.

Charlie looked mortified, as if Kyle’s lack of empathy was bringing back his own.

Kyle stood up and looked at the lifeless body of the CEO of WWCOMMS, saying nothing. He glared at Charlie.

‘Kyle...’ Dan moaned. ‘Don’t.’

One word was all that was needed to calm Kyle down. He put the pistol on safety and slipped it into the waistband of his jeans. ‘Don’t do anything, or go anywhere, ok?’ he said to Charlie, who nodded once in reply. He then ran over to Dan. ‘Jesus, Dan, what happened?’

Dan collapsed into Kyle’s arms, dropping his gun. ‘What do you think, genius?’ Dan laughed softly. With that, he passed out.

 


	22. Chapter 22

“... Dan? Dan!”

Kyle shook Dan to try to wake him up. Dan’s breathing was shallow.

‘Laslo Panoflex, you absolute wankstain,’ cursed Kyle. He carefully laid Dan on the floor before using his belt to restrain the still-silent Charlie’s hands.

Picking Dan up again, Kyle glared at Charlie. ‘You follow me. Don’t try anything or I will find a way to shoot you.’

Charlie blinked and Kyle took that as acknowledgement before retracing his steps back to where Dick and the other rebels were waiting.

Kyle wasn’t weak, but he wasn’t the strongest either. Carrying Dan while running from WWCOMMS was fuelled with adrenaline rush, but all that filled Kyle now was fear, and his arms felt heavy, and Dan felt heavier.

It felt like a lifetime before Kyle was on the final path back to allies. In the short distance, Dick looked up and saw Kyle, Dan, and Charlie. Kyle almost collapsed when other hands took Dan, only being held up by Dick.

‘Hey. Kyle.’ Dick’s voice came as a gentle comfort.

‘... Don’t hurt Charlie. Dan didn’t want to hurt him.’

— — — — —

Kyle couldn’t sleep. Dick insisted he get some rest, and took him somewhere safe to do so, but Kyle spent the whole time staring at the ceiling in the darkened room.

He didn’t know if the rebels had the medical capability or supplies to help Dan and this played on his mind over and over like a broken record.

Kyle threw the pillow across the room and got out of bed. He hated the waiting. Despite instructions to rest, Kyle went to find Dan.

He found Dick talking with some others around a table.

‘Where is he?’ Kyle demanded.

Dick sighed, knowing not to bother arguing. ‘In hospital.’

Kyle narrowed his eyes in confusion.

‘You know there are still places that weren’t brought out by WWCOMMS, right? We avoid hospitals when we can - the paperwork and police questions are too much - but...’

‘Which hospital?’

‘You’ll get arrested, Kyle. Worst enemy or not, you still killed a man in the streets.’

‘Do they know I did it?’

‘... No.’

Kyle shrugged. ‘Then they can’t arrest me. Where’s Dan?’

— — — — —

The hospital reminded Kyle too much of WWCOMMS. It was clinical and clean and so white. He was hit with nausea when he entered and it took all of his strength to hold himself together. The colour on the uniforms made him feel a bit more at ease.

Kyle asked the receptionist where Dan was and she told him where to go. Kyle went as fast as he could and felt incredibly impatient in the slow lift.

Kyle stopped short when finally found Dan, all hooked up with an IV and oxygen.

‘Shit. Dan.’

‘Hmmm?’ Dan stirred, groggy. ‘Kyle?’ Dan looked over and saw Kyle, then smiled. ‘Hey.’

‘Jesus.’

‘No, it’s Dan. How many times will people forget my name?’ Dan joked quietly. ‘Get over here.’

Kyle pulled up a seat and sat next to Dan’s bed. ‘What happened?’

‘Charlie shot me.’

‘I got that part.’

‘They stitched me up and gave me a transfusion or something.’ Dan peered down his gown at his bandages. ‘Hurts like a bitch still. Is this WWCOMMS?’

Dan’s question surprised Kyle. ‘Wh-‘

‘Too white.’

‘Oh, yeah. No, not WWCOMMS. Dunno if you remember, I killed Panoflex.’

‘... I remember throwing up.’

Kyle smiled and hugged Dan a little too tightly, causing an ‘ow, ow, ow, Kyle,’ from Dan before he eased off.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘You absolute wankstain’ is one of my favourite curses tbh


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Highkey nearly forgot to post this whoops

It was a few days before Dan was discharged. Kyle hardly left his bedside.

 

With intel gained from Woody and Charlie, the rebels managed to recover Will’s body. Some semblance of a funeral was held.

 

‘You remember when Will flew a plane?’ Kyle said quietly to Dan.

 

‘How could I forget? He couldn’t drive a car so tried to drive the plane down the road.’

 

The two laughed a little at the memory, trying to keep quiet so the others didn’t hear.

 

Dick came up to them afterwards. He handed something to Dan: a watch.

 

‘It was Will’s. He thought he misplaced it at one point... I found it in his locker. Thought you two would want it.’

 

Dan flipped it over in his hand. ‘We got him this for his birthday one year. Fucking hell, how’d it survive this?’

 

Dick shrugged then wandered off.

 

— — — — —

 

Dick was somewhat surprised to walk into Dan and Kyle’s house to see them packing.

 

‘Wh-‘

 

‘We’re moving,’ Kyle said, not looking up from his boxes.

 

Dan stood upright and smiled uneasily. ‘We were gonna tell you.’ He sighed. ‘We’re not doing this anymore. Fuck that.’

 

‘Reasonable,’ Dick replied. ‘Where are you moving to?’

 

‘Kyle wants to run a farm.’

 

‘He doesn’t seem the type to me.’

 

Dan laughed and mouthed ‘Me neither’ at Dick.

 

Kyle stood up but didn’t look at either of the other two men, instead keeping his eyes on the box in front of him. ‘Panoflex is dead. Everyone knows that; his death wasn’t exactly low profile. Sooner or later someone’s gonna figure out I killed him and then the police are gonna be pissed. So I figure we move outta the city, at least until this blows over and WWCOMMS dies for good.’

 

Dick nodded. ‘We’ll do the clean up.’

 

Kyle locked eyes with Dick. ‘What I said about Charlie stands. He doesn’t get hurt.’ Dan was silent and rubbed the back of his neck.

 

‘And Woody?’

 

‘... and Woody,’ mumbled Dan. Dan was lost in his own thoughts. He never really knew what Charlie did while at WWCOMMS, and didn’t even know Woody was there, but he knew that somewhere in them, his friends were still there, despite whatever they did. ‘Kill WWCOMMS, not my friends.’

 

‘We’ll keep you updated.’

 

— — — — —

 

They were gone the next week. They left no address, only a single phone number.

 

Dan and Kyle would watch the sun set most nights. After everything they’d gone through, it was understandable that they wanted to avoid being shut inside.

 

The pair also visited Woody and Charlie when they could. Progress was slow, but it was progress. Kyle still harboured some anger towards the other pair, but Dan had let it go.

 

Despite Panoflex’s words, his company was lost without him. WWCOMMS fell apart, for real this time.


End file.
